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The 1998 Chateau Yquem was released several months ago. This estate does not allow tasting from cask (where the wine spends 42 months), and it is not released until five years after the vintage. The 1998 Yquem (95 points) is a great success. Made in an elegant style, it is not a blockbuster such as 1990, 1989, and 1988. It is well-delineated, with wonderfully sweet aromas of creme brulee, pineapples, apricots, and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it is not as sweet as the biggest/richest Yquem vintages, but it is gorgeously pure, precise, and strikingly complex. Already approachable, it should evolve for 30-50 years ... without a doubt.Robert Parker | 95 RPPale gold. Knockout aromas of creme brulee, coconut, vanilla bean, honey and orange peel. Lush and seductively silky in the mouth; its creamy, seamless texture makes it seem deceptively accessible today but sound acid structure should keep it going for 20 years or more. Not hugely sweet or tropical but very complex and fine. Firm, hazelnutty finish offers great length, if not quite the grip of the ’89.Vinous Media | 95 VM

La Tour Blanche’s spectacular 2001 boasts a light to medium gold color as well as a big, exotic nose of tropical fruits, honeysuckle, orange marmalade, and creme brulee. In the mouth, notions of peaches, lychees, and caramelized citrus give way to a weighty, full-bodied, concentrated yet incredibly precise and well-delineated sweet white. It is a tour de force in Sauternes! Anticipated maturity: 2009-2035.Robert Parker | 97 RPSoft burnished gold, and lighter in frame that some in the lineup with excellent concentration and uplift. A gentle scattering of white flowers as you travel through the palate, with an enveloping floral fragrance of honeysuckle and lilies. Smoked citrus zest and the tertiary notes of an older Sauternes come in through the finish, along with the caramelised toffee-edged apricots that showcase the evolution of the wine. This is excellent and would be beautiful paired with an apricot tart. Makes me want to cook an apricot tart in fact, which has got to be a good thing. Holds its nerve when I go back after 15 minutes, showing excellent grip. Drinking Window 2021 - 2042.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2001 La Tour Blanche has a finely knit bouquet of yellow flowers mixed with wild honey, acacia and white peach. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity and almost unctuous in the mouth, showing what feels like more residual sugar than its peers. Voluminous and mouth-filling on the finish but missing the tension that would take it up a level. Still, this is a hedonistic delight.Vinous Media | 94 VMVery intense aromas of candied lemons, fresh flowers and vanilla. Full-bodied, very sweet and spicy. Long, long finish. Excellent. Best after 2009. 4,630 cases made, 250 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Wow. This has a seamless texture and wonderful depth of fruit with dried pineapple, pear and hints of honey. Full body, very sweet and dense. Superb. Sliced white truffles. Fantastic. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThis superb, light to medium gold/green-hued Sauternes is a full-bodied, opulent, enormously endowed, moderately sweet offering with plenty of pineapple, peach, caramel, and smoky new oak characteristics. With great viscosity as well as richness, and good underlying acidity providing vibrancy and definition, it should be at its peak between 2008-2030.Robert Parker | 96 RPExotic and ripe with loads of tropical fruit and sweet fruit. Full-bodied, spicy and very long. Sweet and loaded with botrytis. This is a young Sauternes built for aging. Best after 2010. 7,500 cases made, 1,725 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSGentle tawny yellow in colour. The first one where I have a touch of volatile acidity. It's not overpowering, and as ever with Sauternes there is so much else going on that it quickly gets forgotten about amid the abundance of other aromatics but a second bottle (colder in temperature also) works better. On this one, the grated ginger character is beautifully invigorating alongside the lemon curd and caramelised apples richness. This has plenty to enjoy but it is not at the heights that Lafaurie-Peyraguey has reached over the past decade, and is a reminder that this estate today is part of the renewal of Sauternes. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040Decanter | 91 DECThe 2001 Lafaurie-Peyraguey, which just predates Silvio Denz’s ownership, has an attractive nose of dried honey, praline and walnut, displaying good intensity though not amazingly complex. The palate is well balanced with a viscous opening, fine acidity and a touch of orange peel and spicebox toward the finish. Elegant and refined, but it needs a little more length.Vinous Media | 91 VM

No written review provided. | 97 RPThe 2005 Climens has an intense nose, dried honey and a touch of glycerine, tangerine and barley sugar. The palate is well balanced with a viscous opening, tangy marmalade mixed with white peach and white pepper, gaining momentum towards the finish that has real depth and penetration. This is a fabulous Climens with great complexity. Tasted at the Climens vertical at the château in April 2022.Vinous Media | 95 VMToffee, dried lemon rind and tropical fruit on the nose. Full-bodied and very sweet, with a dense palate of candied fruit and a long, sweet finish. Very concentrated. The botrytis spice creeps up on the finish. Best after 2013. 2,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSOpulent apricot nose. Plump and robust, with rich mandarin fruit. A long, spicy finish. Drinking Window 2012 - 2030.Decanter | 95 DECThe deep color implies how richly draped this wine is in botrytis; its exotic scents and complex flavors bear the stamp as well. Honey, more honey and a little hazelnut in the end. Voluptuous now, this wine’s complexity will gain prominence with age.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SIntensely rich, very perfumed wine, full of apples and honey flavors. There is also fresh fruit, but the richness dominates, showing some dry botrytis flavors to finish.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The pale to medium lemon-gold colored 2005 d’Yquem opens with a provocative, mineral and earth-tinged nose of chalk dust, wet pebbles and dried wild mushrooms over a core of warm apricots, green mango, honeyed toast, ginger and pink grapefruit plus wafts of honeycomb, orange blossoms and saffron. The palate confirms the wine is still a little closed and shut down, offering achingly gorgeous glimpses at the tightly wound, intricate layers structured with a racy acid line and wonderfully creamy texture, finishing incredibly long and perfumed. This decadent flavor bomb still needs a good five to seven years in bottle before it is set to go off, but oh what a spectacle it will give then!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThis has a deliciously pure feel, with juicy, inviting green plum, ginger, heather, creamed pineapple and Jonagold apple flavors all melded together and gliding through the lengthy finish, which echoes with lilting flowers and dried citrus notes. Best from 2015 through 2045. 12,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThis isn’t sweet, but just so wonderfully rich. It’s the concentration of botrytis that makes the wine. The texture is velvet, but with a spicy bite to it. Apricot, honey and marzipan all contribute to a wine that will age over decades.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2005 Yquem is limpid golden in hue. The bouquet is gorgeous, finely-tuned and precise with clear honey, vanilla pod and saffron, less of the almond that I have noticed previously. The palate is built around its exquisite poise, the acidity keeping this Yquem on its tip-toes. As I have noted before, it appears to be gaining in concentration and viscosity with age, lovely fig and tangerine notes combining with a slight nuttiness on the finish. Tasted at 67 Pall Mall in London.Vinous Media | 96 VMWhat an incredible nose of flowers, honey, spices such as clove, and sandalwood. With time, decadent aromas of apple tart and crumble develop. Full and very round on the palate, this is medium sweet with a velvety texture. Flavors of honey, apple and pear tart appear on the long finish. This is so beautiful, hard not to drink now but will greatly improve with more time. 140 grams of RS.James Suckling | 95 JSThe summer heat that led to such outstanding wines from Bordeaux in 2005 was not ideal for Sauternes, as the onset of botrytis was fairly late and sporadic. Also the hot conditions kept acidity on the low side. Nonetheless d’Yquem made a finely balanced wine, with discreet apple and apricot aromas that are still reticent. It’s suave, textured and very concentrated, with elegant oak and no overbearing viscosity or heaviness. Very long, it will keep well, but may not be among the very greatest Yquems. Drinking Window 2019 - 2035Decanter | 94 DEC

This is so creamy, almost milky in feel, with toasted coconut and cashew notes giving way to sweet peach, apricot and glazed pear flavors that glide along, while ginger, green tea, lychee and kumquat flavors extend through the finish. Shows terrific range and definition. Feels like it’s just starting to open, and is in no rush. Drink now through 2035. 2,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSTasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château de Fargues has a rich and intense bouquet with layers of honey, dried peach, beeswax and acacia that soar from the glass. The palate is powerful and authoritative: intense botrytis-rich honeyed fruit with compelling mineralité underneath. It fans out in glorious fashion – a stunning de Fargues that is now beginning to show its talents. As I remarked a couple of years ago, just afford it a couple more years so that it can fully absorb the vestiges of oak.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NMThe nose is sumptuous but still conspicuously oaky, though the oak doesn’t suppress the lovely apricot fruit. Indeed it confers aromatic elegance. Very sweet and intense on the palate, this is creamy and concentrated, with excellent purity of fruit, but a lively acidity, which gives the wine its finesse. Well balanced. Drinking Window 2021 - 2030.Decanter | 93 DECMedium yellow. Exotic, high-toned apricot, spices and flowers on the nose, complemented by coconutty, toasty oak. Very sweet and unctuous, with exotic, nobly rotten flavors of pineapple, apricot and coconut and an impression of elevated alcohol. Not quite as racy, fruity or structured as the 2007; conveys an impression of softer acidity, and yet this maintains a light touch. Finishes with suggestions of vanilla and marzipan.Vinous Media | 92 VMNo written review provided. | 92 W&S

The 2005 Rieussec is a blend of 90% Semillon, 8% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Muscadelle picked between 23 September and 27 October. It has a fabulous bouquet that is mineral-rich and tensile. The palate repeats its performance from last year: focused, tense, laden with botrytis-rich fruit with a crystalline and sorbet-fresh finish that seals the deal. One of the best releases from the estate in recent years. Tasted April 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 97 RP-NMShows enticing aromas of toffee, cream, dried apricot and caramel. Full-bodied, very sweet and thick, with honey and caramel flavors. Long and rich, oozing with sweet, ripe fruit, this is like liquid candy. Best after 2016.Wine Spectator | 96 WSYou get both apricots and honeyed botrytis aromas that are followed through by a dry core, very full-bodied with richness, the sweetness of the yellow jam fruits, apricots and mangoes gliding over the palate. Delicious, and certainly ageworthy.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEFull yellow-gold. Expressive aromas of pineapple, coconut, sweet vanillin oak and spices. Then wonderfully thick, fat and sweet, with the exotic coconut character carrying through in the mouth. Finishes saline and powerful, with palate-staining flavors of pineapple, coconut and spicy oak. Conveys a strong impression of solidity.Vinous Media | 93 VMWhat a balance in this wine, notes of apple pie, honey, and spiced lemons. Full-bodied and sweet, with a bright acidity and dried citrus with honey and orange marmalade. 140 grams of residual sugar, but very fresh still. Beautiful now, but wait to pull the cork in 2012.James Suckling | 93 JS

Pale gold, the 2009 Climens offers up a fabulously fragrant nose of green tea, chamomile, powdered ginger, lemon marmalade and fallen leaves with suggestions of spice cake and preserved mandarin peel. The palate is super intense with vibrant, energetic fruit and layer upon layer of perfume and spice nuances, finishing very long and incredibly youthful.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPRich and opulent, but the Barsac terroir keeps it reined in. Exotic fruit notes, baked apple and confit fruit. Pure, velvety and unctuous but with a bite of citrus zest freshness coming in behind. Biodynamic estate. Drinking Window 2019 - 2050Decanter | 97 DECThe 2009 Climens has a clean and pure bouquet with honey and brioche aromas, like pure sunlight! The palate is fresh and crisp with superb botrytised fruit. Great tension and a dash of ginger and lemongrass spice up the detailed finish. This is a Climens that is only just beginning to demonstrate what is capable of. Bon vin! Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe superb palate boasts richness, with honey and orange zest notes. It shows fine balance between the flavors of orange jelly and the intense botrytis-driven notes. It has a light, delicate texture and acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WERounded and broad in feel for now, with richly layered toasted almond, ginger cream, brioche and glazed apple notes that all glide through the viscous finish, where a flash of green tea can be found. This has the buried zip for the long haul, which it will need to assimilate fully. There’s lots in reserve. Best from 2015 through 2034. 4,165 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The 2009 Guiraud is one of the gems of Sauternes this vintage, one of the finest offerings in recent years. It has a wonderful, beautifully delineated bouquet with expressive scents of wild honey, orange pith, Seville orange marmalade and just a hint of pineapple. The palate is beautifully defined with pure botrytised fruit, supremely well balanced with a vivacious, ginger and white pepper tinged finish that lingers long in the mouth. Outstanding...Vinous Media | 97 VMGorgeous aromas of dried apricots, apple pie crust and pineapple. Full-bodied, with medium sweetness. Dense and layered. Beautiful now but will improve with age. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThis is a bird of a different feather, with an exotic, vibrant aroma of toasted coconut, followed by an almond cream note that gives way to the core of green fig, papaya, Cavaillon melon and honey. There’s stunning richness and mouthfeel, with the power to be one of the longer-lived wines of the vintage. Very impressive. Best from 2015 through 2040. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 11,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSPale to medium gold colored, the 2009 Guiraud comes sashaying out of the glass with a wonderfully floral nose of jasmine and peach blossoms with an undercurrent of potpourri, dried mango, honey nut, baked pineapple and preserved ginger. The mouth is completely coated with concentrated baking spice and savory layers countering all the rich sweetness, finishing long and layered.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThis is a smoky, rich wine that shows evident wood aging. This feature adds weight, though the sweetness is currently muted. It is a wine with potential intensity; the fruit and acidity will emerge in several years.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE(Château Guiraud (Sauternes)) The 2009 Guiraud is a terrific wine in the making, as it has perfectly captured the potential to make an elegant, refined and long-lived wine in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, complex and quite esthery in its mélange of bee pollen, pears, apples, delicate notes of pineapple, complex soil tones and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and shows great mid-palate depth, with bright acids, lovely, nascent complexity and outstanding length and grip on the elegant and focused finish. A superb Guiraud. (Drink between 2016-2040)John Gilman | 92-93 JG

A big, broad, powerful style, with piecrust, roasted almond and hazelnut cream notes framing the core of apricot, creamed peach and dried mango. Picks up extra fig and pear details through the toasty finish. Needs a bit of time to finish sorting itself out. Best from 2017 through 2030. 5,415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe dried-mango and pineapple character is so delicious in this wine. It’s full-bodied and medium-sweet, with a pretty density and a fruity finish. Wonderful balance to this super Sauternes. This is a little in reserve now, with so much for the future. Try in 2017.James Suckling | 96 JSTasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Suduiraut 2011 has a muffled nose at first: dried honey and quince, wet wool and marzipan scents that gradually open up with aeration. Coming back after 10 minutes there is a heartwarming gingerbread note. The palate is viscous on the entry and full of tension. There is a keen line of acidity here, quite linear at first, but it fans out nicely toward the finish and offers notes of honey, mandarin and even a touch of rhubarb! This is a class act, a Sauternes that does not need to shout about its inherent qualities.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 93 RP-NMHeady apricot and mango nose. Concentrated and creamy, with density and weight of fruit. The oak is integrated and the wine is harmonious in a rich rather than racy style. Long. Drinking Window 2016 - 2050.Decanter | 93 DEC(Château Suduiraut (Sauternes)) The 2011 Suduiraut is one of the most delicately styled and dancing wines of the vintage in Sauternes. The deep, pure and very clean nose soars from the glass in a classically glazed mélange of bee pollen, pear, fresh pineapple, honeycomb, chalky soil tones, apple blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very pure and crisp, with very good mid-palate depth, fine focus and balance and a very long, light on its feet and complex finish. I really like the elegant style and shape of the 2011 Suduiraut. (Drink between 2016-2040)John Gilman | 93+ JGVery fresh and strongly fruity, with just the right amount of dry botrytis, this is already approachable. However that botrytis does promise aging, with peach and ripe orange flavors pushing forward. Drink this attractive wine from 2019.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2011 Suduiraut, picked from 12 September to 5 October in three tries through the vineyard, has an intriguing bouquet. It does not possess the thrilling intensity of the 2014 and 2015 tasted alongside, replicating the wet wool, almost Loire-like bouquet that I picked up upon in previous encounters. The palate is well balanced with a slightly viscous texture. This is a gentle Suduiraut, missing the complexity of a top vintage but fresh and generous. It is linear in style, some might say conservative with just a touch of gingerbread on the finish. Fine. 148gm/L residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Tasted at the Suduiraut vertical at the château.Vinous Media | 92 VM

This is a superb sweet wine from America with candied apples, pears, pineapple, and hints of spices. Some flint. Dense and spicy. Really sweet and flavorful. Dried apricot at the end. The real deal. Drink now.James Suckling | 97 JS

Musk and candied lemon fill the nose with lifted, heady intensity while the palate is a vision of purest, ripest, sweetest apricot. The intensity and purity of flavors is heightened by candied lemon sharpness, piercing, framing and illuminating that golden apricot deliriousness. The finish is long, and the life of this immensely pure wine will be even longer.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEBased on botrytized Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, all picked in November, the 2017 Ruster Ausbruch Auf den Flügeln der Morgenröte (On The Wings of Dawn) exhibits an intense golden-yellow color followed by a fresh and spicy bouquet of concentrated fruits with stone and citrus fruit aromas intermingled with notes of crushed stones and lemon/orange mustard. Viscous and dense on the palate, this oily, rich and very sweet Ausbruch shows a perfect tannin structure and well-deserved notes of new (acacia) barrels. This is a hedonistic sweet wine, and the Sauvignon Blanc part gives additional grip and tension. This is another highlight of the sweet section of this Burgenland report, and I am so much in love with the Sauvignon-free 2018 that I dare say this is even more generous and complex and will be served to several generations, if only you bought enough. 11.5% alcohol. Tasted in May 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPA hint of acetone gives way to apricot, beeswax, kumquat, grapefruit and mineral flavors in this racy dessert white, which is complex and long, with the fruit echoing on the finish. Welschriesling and Furmint. Drink now through 2027. 200 cases made, 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

A masterclass in purity and delicacy for this 2020 vintage which manages to convey the beauty and allure of Yquem in a toned down, subtle and beguiling way. Aromas of white blossom and honeysuckle, gently caramelised Mirabelle plums and fresh apricots with flecks of clementine and grapefruit pith abound on the nose - richly scented in their individual aspects but delivered quietly, almost sultry and shy. Immediately mouthfilling and unctuous, streamlined and fresh with a sugary hit hitting first before mouthwatering acidity follows giving sumptuous succulence and vibrancy. Apricot, peach, fleshy mango and sharp pineapple give the exotic fruit zing balanced by a salty, flintiness that adds faint angles to the expression. Juicy, bright, clean and complete with hints of cinnamon spice and just-toasted bread providing the frame and structure reminding you that this is built to last. It’s not as opulent as some vintages, much more understated and relaxed - and coincidentally one of the lowest in residual sugar at 135g/l - but this is a wonderful expression with control and confidence on show. It also has supreme drinkability even now with tension, clarity and energy so don’t be afraid to open and enjoy this in its joyful youth. The 2020 is the smallest production since 2000 with an equivalent of 35,000 bottles made. All stock will be released for sale on 23rd March with only a small number of bottles kept back for the estate’s library collection. 3.79pH. The vintage was challenging in terms of viticulture with tropical spring-like weather delivering early budburst and high mildew pressure, especially given it was the estate’s first year of official organic conversion. June was wet and cool followed by a hot, dry summer. Botrytis arrived in mid-October but there was only a small window of five days and two separate passes to harvest grapes with perfect noble rot.Decanter | 96 DECVery transparent and elegant with white peaches, lilacs, and light caramel. Medium-bodied, sweet and agile with salted caramel and dried orange character. Spicy botrytis at the end. Give this three or four years to come together.James Suckling | 96 JSThis has a broad and unctuous feel, with nectarine, apricot and mango notes creating an opulent feel, while racy bitter almond, orange blossom and elderberry accents add contrast and range. The lush finish is carried by notes of mango and piecrust. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2028 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 95 WS